Liam stood on the sidelines of the football field, watching the collection of guys tackling each other. He kept looking at the scoreboard for the time every three seconds. The scores were very close and he didn’t want to lose this game.
‘One more touchdown and we’ll win.’ he key repeating in his head over and over again.
But of course, he was the running-back and those much needed 7 points would be up to him to get. The screaming of the students in the stands was a hum in his head. The pounding of feet on metal was beating in his chest. Everyone was depending on him for this win. No pressure.
“PAYNE!” Coach yelled, looking around for his number: 23. His eyes landed on Liam with nervousness in his eyes. “Get out there!” Liam nodded, with the thought that even Coach was counting on him.
Liam slipped his helmet on and ran out onto the field. He bit down on his mouth guard as Niall Horan, the quarterback, began reciting the play.
Of course, the pass was going straight for Liam.
No pressure.
“Ready to go, Li?” Liam’s best friend and defence on the team, Louis Tomlinson, patted him on the back as the rest of the team got into formation on the 10 yard line.
“I’ve been ready.” Liam tried to convince Louis to hide the fact that he was extremely nervous.
He glanced at the time: 5 seconds left of the game. Enough time for one more play. If Liam makes this touchdown, then their school wins. This was it.
“Hike!” Niall screamed. Liam didn’t hear the play Niall screamed out, but he didn’t have to; he knew that he had to catch it after three seconds.
Louis shoved the other team’s player out of the way as Liam squeezed through an opening, narrowly escaping from the clutches of a defense on the other team. 2 seconds left. He pushed his legs further onto the infield, running just out of reach of yet other player.
1 second.
He turned his body ready to catch, when another player came in front of him to block. Instinctively, Liam changed directions. Niall seemed to understand, as he threw the ball right over the players’ heads and right into Liam’s hands.
His feet were solid on the ground before he felt somebody slam into him, knocking him to the ground.
The whistle blew.
They had won the game. The smile that crept of Liam’s face was one of a kind. The kind of smile that just led a football team into victory. Even though they still had to kick the ball for the extra point, the game was set. They had won, and by the sound of the crowd, they knew it too.
Liam jumped up and raised the ball high above his head. He jumped high in the air numerous times, not as high as Niall’s jump (that kid can defy gravity), screaming with pure joy.
“WE WON!” Niall jumped his way to the infield as they briefly celebrated, patting each other on the helmet or the shoulder pads.
The whistle blew again as Coach switched out a few players, bringing in the kicker. He was a small boy by the name of Stan, who was good friends with Louis. The team got into position on the yard line before setting the ball just as Stan kicked it perfectly in-between the goal posts.
The sound of the crowd was celebration enough.
“IT’S GOOD!” the announcer cheered into the microphone, and the loud sound of the buzzer rang through the stadium. The crowd cheered even louder. The smile couldn’t leave Liam’s face.
Niall and Louis both ran up to Liam and engulfed him in a violent hug. Screaming: ‘We won!’ in his ears. Laughing, Liam shoved them off him and ran back to Coach and the team.
He spoke to them briefly of how the game went, (the man’s never pleased), then they crossed the field, high-fiving each member of the other team. Then, they made their way back to the locker room.
“Li you were awesome!” Niall came up behind Liam and shook his shoulders.
“You threw it, donut.” Liam laughed and shoved Niall off of him. The blonde boy just rolled his eyes, “Whatever you caught it.”
“Payne!” Louis’ cheery voice sounded behind Liam. He turned to Louis as he continued, “First, congratulations. Second, are you coming with us down to Stan’s place? His parents are out of town, and you know how Stan is drunk.” He raised his eyebrows, referring to the time when Stan completely believed that he was a girl and wore Hannah, the girl he has a crush on’s, heels down the street screaming beyonce’s ‘If I was a Boy’.
“I’m in!” Liam laughed at the memory. They reached the locker room and began taking off their jerseys and pads. Liam couldn’t help but feel on top of the world.
—————————————
Zayn inhaled deeply from his cigarette, enjoying the feeling of the smoke flowing down his throat. He exhaled, forming the smoke into the well practiced circle. He smirked to himself as the perfect circle floated freely before slowly fading into nothing.
The pounding of hundreds of feet on metal above him was giving him a massive headache. People can be so annoying. How was he supposed to enjoy his time with his only friends?
“Fuck, football isn’t that exciting.” Harry said reading Zayn’s mind as he lent his head on the gate and exhaled a puff of smoke, not caring about the shape.
Ed and Zayn both silently agreed. The three of them sat under the bleachers at their school’s football game. Ed had just graduated, but his girlfriend, Amy, was a senior just like Harry and Zayn. Amy wanted to come to the game to be with her friend Hannah. Of course, Ed dragged Zayn and Harry along with him just to have someone to smoke with. Hannah was apparently crazy about one of the dudes from the team. Stupid for her to come to a game when he can’t even see her, but whatever.
The three of them sat in silence as the crowd’s cheers were drowned out by their thoughts. Zayn didn’t think about anything particular, just enjoying the almost-silence and the cigarette between his fingers.
“IT’S GOOD!” the announced yelled, causing the crowd to become even louder. Zayn groaned and rolled his eyes.
“You better thank us for coming here, Sheeran.” Zayn joked, mesmerized by the red ring around the end of the stick in his fingers, rough from all the calluses that were caused in his wood shop class.
“You guys are coming with me to this party Amy and I are invited to.” Ed said nonchalantly.
Zayn and Harry groaned. This wasn’t part of the deal. They hot dragged to this lousy game, and now they are getting dragged to a stupid party.
“If I have to go, you both have to go.” Ed said sighing deeply. “Amy told me she wants to get out and meet new people.”
Zayn rolled his eyes. All anyone needs, is one or two good friends to get through high school. Graduating and college is about being independent and being on your own. It made no sense to him that some people crave to have all these people surround them.
“Only for a couple hours.” Harry protested, taking a long drag. Zayn closely followed Harry, taking a long drag of his cigarette. This was going to be a long night.
YOU ARE READING
Accidental (A Ziam AU)
Fanfiction(Alternate Universe) - Liam is the star of the football team, while Zayn is the weird art kid that only has two friends. When they accidentally cross paths drunk and at a party, they begin to notice each other. Was it accidental or fate?
